


Misplaced

by BasilHellward



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, I am the champion of bad titles, M/M, No Spoilers, Post-Reunions, Pre-Slash, Smoking, Wordcount: 500-1.000, i don't think so anyway, if there are they're mild
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-12
Updated: 2017-12-12
Packaged: 2019-02-13 17:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12988494
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BasilHellward/pseuds/BasilHellward
Summary: The night's an unusually cold one and standing under the soft pink neon of the Valentine's Detective Agency sign provides Nate no warmth.





	Misplaced

**Author's Note:**

> I've been away from my PS4 all weekend and I'm having Fallout withdrawals, so I wrote this! Thought I'd try my hand at male sole this time as it just seemed to fit better with the story.  
> Unbeta'd, so there may be some spelling or grammatical errors. If you spot any, please point them out so that they can be corrected! Enjoy :)

After Fort Hagen, Nate doesn't know which he needs more: a drink or a smoke. Nick offers the former and he opts for the latter, grabbing a pack of cigs from Nick's desk and muttering, "Be back in five," before heading outside. 

The night's an unusually cold one and standing under the soft pink neon of the Valentine's Detective Agency sign provides Nate no warmth. He can't tell if what he breathes out is smoke or air and wishes he'd thought to wear something warmer than his usual leather jacket and armour to match. 

He's halfway through his second cigarette when the door swings open and Nick comes out, wordlessly leaning against the wall beside Nate. His fedora casts a shadow over his face from which his amber eyes glow. Nate can't bring himself to meet them. 

"I quit when Nora found out we were having Shaun," Nate says with a humourless chuckle, watching the ember of his cigarette flicker in the breeze. "My first smoke in two hundred years..." 

"You're not givin' up on him now, are ya?" 

Nate sighs, slumping forward like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders and, cliché as it may be, that's exactly how it feels. Shaun and Nora _were_ his world. He has to get their son back or Nora will have died for nothing. Of all the unbearable things he's had to suffer, all the imposible choices he's had to make, it's that thought that's kept him going.

He doesn't quite manage to relay all of this to Nick. What he grits out is, "It's just so hard." His voice sounds choked and uneven even to his own ears. 

"If it were easy, the Institute wouldn't be the bogeymen of the Commonwealth," Nick says, gently bumping their shoulders together. "If anyone's gonna take 'em down, it's you." 

"God, I just— I don't know what to _do_ anymore. Every time I feel like I'm getting close, he's a million miles away and I... I can't seem to catch up." 

"We'll find him," Nick promises for the hundredth time, though he sounds no surer than when he'd said it for the first. Nate nods and tries to hide the way his hand shakes when he brings it to his face to wipe away an unbidden tear.

Nick takes his trenchcoat off and for a second Nate doesn't wonder what he's doing, too caught up in the fact Nick has the sleeve over his good arm rolled up, the other buttoned over his skeletal hand. He doesn't have to wonder what Nick's doing then because before he gets the chance, Nick hangs the coat over Nate's shoulders. His hands linger there for a moment in a gesture of comfort before falling away.

"Thanks."

Nick shrugs. "Figured you need it more than I do since I don't feel the cold."

"For everything," Nate clarifies. "There aren't many people left in the world who'd help a man out of his depth look for his missing son."

"No need for thanks, it's what I do."

"Well, I'm thanking you anyway," Nate says, managing a weak smile before taking one last drag and flicking his cigarette into the street. "So, how about that drink?" 

Nick smiles warmly. "Sounds good to me."

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! If you have a minute, please leave a comment telling me what you thought, I'd love to know! If you don't have a minute, just leave some kudos ;)


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